New Years Eve in Philippines

New Years Eve is most probably the most celebrated day in Philippines; it is an incredible experience to be here during the time when the New Year is coming.

Like most families we were with friends but just to get there was a mission, not because they live so far away, but we didn’t know that the route we wanted to take is actually going through a street maket, just before our destination, so what should have been a 1 and a half hour ride turned out to be over three hours……. On the way home we did the same in one hour, taking in consideration that we drove very slow, too dangerous to speed at night, especially a night like this.

As usual, we were getting this wonderful hospitality the Philippines is well known for. There is plenty of food, and of course we brought some too (the crispy pata). We all had a wonderful dinner and even so still hours away, it started getting noisier outside. More and more fire cracker were exploding and at about 20 to midnight we went outside and it was just amazing to see all the rockets going up in the air, the sparkles everywhere and of course the noise of these huge fire crackers, it is really all about the noise.

Of course there are some other rituals one does for the New Years Eve. One is to have coins in your pocket, if you have coins in your pocket they will multiply during the year. Then one needs to have 12 round fruit in the house, one for every month of the year….not so easy to find 12 different types of round fruit and of course everything is getting more expensive in the last day or two of the old year. And last but not least, one has to make sure the doors are open when it is midnight, so to invite the good luck into the house….yes, the house has to be nice and clean.

So we had a great time, the roads were full of smoke and everybody seemed to be very happy (except the two guys who had too much to drink and seemed to prefer to talk with their fists….Happy New Year to everybody. Thank you for reading my blog and no worries, loads more is to come

Vietnam Halong Bay

We are in the north of Vietnam in a place called Halong Bay and it is most probably one of the most beautiful places on earth and for sure one of the most photographed places in Vietnam. It is about 3 hours drive from Hanoi, so not too far off the beaten track and there are plenty of resorts one can spend the holiday.

Again this is a UNESCO World Heritage sire, yes, tick off the list, and is a stunning but small section of the Gulf of Tonkin. There are over 2000 Islands which are dominated by tall limestone karst formations (Karst is formed when very soluble bedrock, in this case limestone, is dissolved at its surface by mildly acidic water)

Our little brochure reads that the karst formations in Halong Bay are the worlds most spectacular formations. The islands here in the bay are actually remnants of mountains which formed 67 Million years ago. The erosion of the limestone only started 2 million years ago and the caves formed 67000 years ago.......just some useless information for anybody interested in a bunch of rocks!

There are Vietname Junk boats bring many tourists into the national park. One of the many attractions is the Sung Sot Cave. It is a spectacular cave that was only relatively recent discovered. There is a staircase  to climb 75 feet to the cave mouth, but then the view is spectacular. There is a concrete path going through the cave system which is beautifully lit to enhance the features.

This is such an amazing place here, if anybody goes to Vietnam, one just has to come here and see Halong Bay. We loved every moment of it, the Junk ride, the cave, the woman selling fresh fish (all to the junks) while on the phone. It is a wonderful place to go, I think a total must while in Vietnam.

Vietnam, Hoi An

Hoi An is a city with about 120'000 inhabitants and is a UNESCO world heritage site, yes another one I visit! It is a well preserved city and was a major trading port in Southeast Asia from the 15th to the 19th century.

There are many well preserved building of all styles and architectures and it is amazing to just walk through the roads and see all these fine examples there. The city became rich through the spice trade which started between the 7th and 10 century, so the city is really old. The boats are still the same shape then they looked like 1000 years ago

We took a short bus ride from Da Nang which took about 40 minutes, we don't have that much time on hand so decided that we will be in Hoi An for about 2 hours before heading back to the ship and I have to admit, I am happy that we will come back here as the town is really beautiful.

Here is the well known Japanese Bridge that was built to get from the Chinese part to the Japanese part of town

But of course it is not just the town that brings us back, but Hoi An is well known for the tailors and of course we had to have something tailored too. The choice is vast and it is worth to shop around a bit. My shirts are nearly 10 $ cheaper each with the shop I finally bought them from than some of the previous ones, so I have 3 stunning shirts, just what I was looking for and Poala got a lovely dress and a coat. They are usually very fast with the tailoring, but as we had time we got them made up for the next week when we will be back

Above is part of our lunch, local homemade noodles with pork and below are a couple of ladies having lunch.

Then of course there are plenty of restaurants. Make no mistake, Hoi An is a tourist place and you will have plenty of them, but still it is so good to be here. We had a nice lunch, a bit plain but still very nice, here are some photos of the food, again, it is all about freshness here in Vietnam and that I love so much

Flavours of Asia

I was shopping in a mall in Vietnam and saw some really nice flavours of Pringle Chips. I usually always eat the same flavours, mainly the sourcream and onion, but now I found some really interesting new flavours, Seaweed, Indonesian Satay and Bangkok Grilled Chickenwing!

They are really cool, even so with the seaweed one needs to get used to it, it is a littl overpowering for the normal European taste, lol, but just to see them and try them is so much fun!

Anyway, just wanted to share that, I am off again in search of bananas, yes bananas. They are so beautifully ripe here in Asia that I can't keep them for more than 2 days and then I have to get fresh ones.

Vietnam, Phan Thiet

Now what has Phan Thiet to offer? I think not too much, there is a very nice golf course, at least this is what I have heard from our guests. It is the ocean Dunes Golf Club, known as an outstanding natural site with sea and wind swept sand dunes, tropical coastal breezes and fantastic ocean views. The course is designed by Nick Faldo, a Masters and British Open champion. The course is considered one of the top 5 courses in Vietnam and one of the top 10 resorts in Asia..... but otherwise?????

OK, I am desperate for some food for the ship, so for me it has a lot to offer, these offerings will make my guests happy and that is why I write a little blog about Phan Thiet.

We had to take the zodiacts to get to town as there is no harbour for expedition ships. The ride was about 1 minutes and a lot of fun. It was a bit rough, but the driver is so experienced, he could read every wave.

Then we took a taxi to the next mall, easier than the market as we needed a lot of normal stuff like Mars Bars and Yogurts, so we popped in and got everything we needed. The main thing was the bananas, as they go off so fast here in Asia. It is because they are sold when they are really ripe, so they taste so wonderfully sweet and juicy, I love them. But yes, I have to buy every second day new bananas.

Then on the way back, full of bags with goods, we expected the zodiac at the landing site.....just there was nothing. We decided to wait a bit, of course I didn't take my radio, the provision master forgot his cell phone, so we had no way to contact the ship......except Cris has remote access to his email, so he went to an Internet cafe and sent a mail to the reception of the ship and they sent a zodiac out immediately, so after being stuck for nearly an hour we go a ride back, very windy, water spraying over us, it was a really cool drive back to the ship and we all got a good time.....and I got a bit of a sun burn, lol!

Vietnam, Pho and Market in Da Nang

I am doing one of my favorite things again, going on the market and buying local products. The time of the year is not great to buy fish in Vietnam as it is towards the en of Monsoon and all the rivers are having high water, meaning that they are brown and muddy, so fishing is not so good and the variety of fish is not great.

But we went anyway, driving the 20 minutes from the port into Dan Nang. The Market is not huge, but there is a very nice variety of foods, vegetables, meats and fish. I have to admit, the meat did not look very inviting, nothing is chilled and it was hot and humid on the market, so I stayed away from that.

The fish was really fresh and we found some lovely varieties, ended up buying som Squid and Spanish Mackerel which we put on for the guest on our Seafood BBQ, great hit as they love local ingredients.

Of course I got a whole lot of vegetables as well as it was really great and fresh, the Water Spinach, the Morning Glory (great just stir fried with loads of garlic) the fresh and sweet Mangoes, just wonderful!

I have as well a recipe for the "national" soup here in Vietnam, the Pho (say Fo!). I love that soup and culd have it any time of the day. Usually the meat gets cooked in the stock in a big pot, then when the soup is served, the water gets refilled in the pot and simmered again, so one makes endless soups.

Here is some of the meat, it is pork........yummy!

This recipe is enough for 10 friends

4 kg beef knuckle, with meat

1.5 kg beef oxtail

500 g white (daikon) radish, sliced

3 onions, chopped

20 g whole star anise pods

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

black peppercorns

30 g slices fresh ginger root

20 g white sugar

30 g salt

25 ml fish sauce

1.1 kg dried flat rice noodles

500 g beef sirloin

TOPPINGS:

sriracha hot pepper sauce

hoisin sauce

thinly sliced onion

chopped fresh cilantro

bean sprouts (mung beans)

sweet Thai basil

thinly sliced green onion

limes, quartered

1.Place the beef knuckle in a very large (9 quart or more) pot. Season with salt, and fill pot with 2 gallons of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 2 hours.

2.Skim fat from the surface of the soup, and add the oxtail, radish and onions. Tie the anise pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns and ginger in a cheesecloth or place in a spice bag; add to the soup. Stir in sugar, salt and fish sauce. Simmer over medium-low heat for at least 4 more hours (the longer, the better). At the end of cooking, taste, and add salt as needed. Strain broth, and return to the pot to keep at a simmer. Discard spices and bones. Reserve meat from the beef knuckle for other uses if desired.

3.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Soak the rice noodles in water for about 20 minutes, then cook in boiling water until soft, but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Slice the frozen beef paper thin. The meat must be thin enough to cook instantly.

4.Place some noodles into each bowl, and top with a few raw beef slices. Ladle boiling broth over the beef and noodles in the bowl. Serve with hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce on the side. Set onion, cilantro, bean sprouts, basil, green onions, and lime out at the table for individuals to add toppings to their liking.

Vietnam

Hello!!

As you can guess from the title of the Blog, I am in Vietnam. I will be here for about two month and will be sailing up and down the coast and I am sure I will be able to post a couple of ineresting Blogs, there is just so much to see and eat here!

But let's start from the beginning, I am not working for Celebrity anymore and must say that I am very happy about it. OK, I will always be grateful to elebrity as I have met my Fiancee there (and I am really happy about that) and I got the experience on big ships, I mean really big, so big that even so I wanted to be more hands on, one is just running the whole day, tasting, putting out fires, organizing and actually loosing a bit touch with what one really loves, being in the middle of it and cooking and enjoying it.

So while I am looking for a new job I had this amazing opportunity to work again for Orion Expedition Cruises. I have done that before I started at Celebrity and really loved every minute. There are a lot of Blogs from my time with Orion, being in the Kimberleys in North Austalia, in New Zealand, Sub Antarctic and Antarctic, it is a great company with great crew and fantastic destinations. Check it out http://www.orionexpeditions.com/ it is just amazing. I am now on Orion II, the new ship in the fleet and having great fun till mid December here along the coast of Vietnam

We actually came up from Singapore, we meaning the ship, me, and of course Poala, my Fiancee, as she is travelling with us as a guest (Supernummary in the crew list) but after a tough contract she needs a bit of a rest and Orion was happy to have her with me on board which is really great!

So the first stop is Ho Chi Minh City where we had loading and our guest all arrived. I was very lucky to meet again with a supplier I have worked about five years ago, when I was here with a different ship. It was so nice seeing each other again and we went out for lunch to a Pho Noodle Soup place. It is a fast food chain, but the soups are still delicious, I will supply a recipe with my next Blog.

The city has changed a lot and there are not that many Bicicles around anymore, just plenty of Bikes, pity, I miss the sight of thousands of bicicles. The rest is still the same, the same market, the friendliness of the people, just amazing to be here!

Risotto

Ahhhh, I just have to make a post about Risotto, I love Risotto and I love cooking Risotto, it is just such a wonderful dish, either on its own or served with meat or fish. Yes it is a rich dish whn made properly but at the same time so versatile and it is even gluten free as the creamyness of the risotto comes from the rice starch

I found some wonderful Chanterel Mushrooms on the market and thought of making a wild mushroom risotto, one of my many favorites as every risotto is a favorite for me.

It is important that a risotto is creamy, but that doesn't mean that there is cream in it. Most chefs in Italy would not speak to you anymore if you ask if they use cream in a risotto, no way! But butter at the end, yes that must go in, plenty of it!

I have added the recipe for you, enjoy it and have a glass of wine while cooking it, I usually cook risotto with friends, it is entertaining, fun and one has a lot to talk while watching the risotto cook.

50 Ml (2 oz) Olive Oil
100 G (4 oz) Butter
600 G (1.25 lb) Risotto Rice
500 G (1 lb) Chanterel Mushrooms
250 G (0.5 lb) Brown Button Mushrooms
150 (5 oz) G Parmesan
200 G (7 oz) Onions
1600 (1.6 quart) Ml Water or a light chicken or beef stock
200 (7 floz) Ml White Wine
Salt

Cut the onions in a fine brunoise
Shallow-fry the onions in olive oil without color
Add the rice and shallow-fry some more
Add the white wine and water
Add Mushrooms
Season and simmer for about 15 min
Just before serving add the parmesan and ice
cold butter

The risotto must be slightly al dente and creamy

Serves 10 pax